Bahrain to try top Shia cleric early next month: Source

Bahraini Shia cleric Sheikh Issa Qassim will reportedly go on trial in August this time for alleged “money laundering” amid simmering anger in the country against a Manama decision to strip him of his citizenship.

According to Press TV, the public prosecutor in Bahrain said Saturday that a cleric will go on trial early next month on charges of “illegal fund collections and money laundering,” without providing an exact date.

The head of public prosecution, Ahmed al-Dosari, did not provide the name of the defendant, but a source familiar with the case said the cleric was Sheikh Qassim, the spiritual Leader of majority Shia Muslims in Bahrain, the Reuters reported.

Sheikh Qassim has strongly rejected the charges brought against him.

Less than a month ago, authorities in Manama revoked the nationality of Sheikh Qassim, accusing him of seeking the “creation of a sectarian environment” through his connections with foreign powers.

This came about a week after Bahrain suspended the activities of the main Shia opposition group al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, whose Secretary General, Sheikh Ali Salman, himself a prominent Shia cleric, has been in prison since December 2014.

The Ale Khalifah regime also dissolved opposition al-Risala Islamic Association and Islamic Enlightenment Institution, founded by Sheikh Qassim.

The move, seen as part of a wider clampdown on dissent, has sparked angry protest rallies across the Persian Gulf kingdom over the weeks.

The United Nations and several human rights bodies have also slammed the Bahraini regime for stripping Sheikh Qassim of his citizenship as well as its widespread crackdown on opposition and political activists.

ME